UPDATED - Need some broody advice, oddly shaped air cells, chicks dead in shell?? Double Yolk Sugge

[MESOFRUFFEH]

I have someone who is regularly laying some big 'ol double yolkers. For peeps and giggles I decided to put one under my broody. I had not really read anything about hatching double yolkers until yesterday when I decided to do some research and I discovered that the hatch rate was pretty poor for them

. So now I feel kinda bad for even putting that egg under her in the first place. Nevertheless, there are two healthy looking embryos developing inside of it bouncing around. I have assisted in quite a few difficult hatches over the years, eggs that were abandoned a few days from hatch date and got chilled, weak chicks that couldnt make it all the way out on their own, ones with misc. medical problems, and they have all survived (except one because he aspirated) and are fully functional members of my flock today. So I am wondering if there is any chance of these twins making it to day 21, and if they do, do you think an assisted hatch would help them come into this world without a casualty? I am open to any suggestions. I do not have an incubator, I rely on my good ol broodies to do the job for me. I currently have 2 setting right now, one is a few days behind the mama with the double yolk, so she is my "backup" incubator in case we have any issues. I also have a makeshift incubator I make with a rubbermaid and two heating pads that has gotten me thru several difficult hatches as well. And as always, I have my mama heating pad "ChickU"

(you know, like a NICU!) set up a few days before hatch date in case anyone needs a little extra TLC. And of course, I am also prepared to deal with any losses we may incur for whatever reason.

If the twins manage to hatch, I already have names picked out for them.... Eggbert and Eggsmerelda! I have read several success stories so I am hoping they make it. But any comments or suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Always eat double yolkers with ham or bacon and hash browns.

A mammal can expand the abdomen and eat more to accommodate twins.
An egg contains all the space and nutrition it will ever have.

Twinning is a death sentence for one or both embryos and they will never attain their potential in size or health.

 

[MESOFRUFFEH]

Always eat double yolkers with ham or bacon and hash browns.

A mammal can expand the abdomen and eat more to accommodate twins.
An egg contains all the space and nutrition it will ever have.

Twinning is a death sentence for one or both embryos and they will never attain their potential in size or health.

Well, this is my last batch of twins and they were super tasty!

Should I just go ahead and "abort" these two, or let nature take its course? These eggs are so large I cannot get them into an egg carton at all. They are exceptionally large. So large that if I had to lay one of them, I am sure I would be sitting on an ice pack for a month. But I know that does not mean that there are more nutrients or ample space for two.

I will not be putting another one under a broody again now that I know what I know. But what should I do from here? I hate to just toss them out!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If it has only been in 2 days, you can cook it. If it has been under her longer, you can cook it and feed back to the chickens or the dogs.

Really, it is so rare for twins to hatch, it isn't worth your time.

 

[RubyNala97]

Really, it is so rare for twins to hatch, it isn't worth your time.

X2. Over the last couple years I have been on byc so many people have posted about hatching twin eggs. Honestly, every single one I have read has ended badly. From deformed chicks to one chick pipping and being helped only to see its attached to a half formed chick and slowly dies during the first few hours. I know the idea seems extremely intriguing and probably one in a million get two healthy twins but everyone that has tried on here as regretted it. I would pull the egg out.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

X2. Over the last couple years I have been on byc so many people have posted about hatching twin eggs. Honestly, every single one I have read has ended badly. From deformed chicks to one chick pipping and being helped only to see its attached to a half formed chick and slowly dies during the first few hours. I know the idea seems extremely intriguing and probably one in a million get two healthy twins but everyone that has tried on here as regretted it. I would pull the egg out.

 

[MESOFRUFFEH]

Wish I'd known about all of this beforehand. I had recently read a story on FB about someone who hatched out twins not even knowing the egg was a double yolk so I did not give it much thought when I tossed that egg under her, that is until i started doing some research. But we are most of the way thru the incubation process now. Tossing the little developing chicks into a frying pan really disturbs me to be honest! I feel like a big ol pile of stinky broody poo now

Part of me would almost rather wait until I could humanely euthanize anything left in the egg. I just really hate for anything to suffer!

 

[Weehopper]

If you do not feel you are wasting your time, I say let nature run its course. Just be prepared for the worst. If they are deformed or something is wrong with them after hatching, you can euthanize one or both. I would let them hatch on their own too. If they are not tough enough to do that, then they are not tough enough to be contributing members of the flock. Nature has its own methods of culling for strength.

 

[MESOFRUFFEH]

Well nature has taken its course.... but not with just the double yolker. My broody that is setting on this batch of eggs is a notoriously stubborn broody, I've always jokingly said she was a terrible broody. always on the wrong nest, breaking eggs, refusing to relocate no matter what, impossible to break of broodiness, but now that I have a set up for each one of my broodies in their own little coops with a nest and exercise area, I have not had a problem. Out of the 8 eggs I gave her, only 2 of them are still alive. They should hatch any day now. The others stopped developing at about 2 weeks it looked like. I cracked open the bad eggs and sure enough, there were fully formed babies, all dead. my other 2 broodies have eggs laid by the same hens and all of them are fertile and doing great. Just this one broody that is having an issue. She has not been off the nest that I have seen, except the usual once a day poop and food break. What could cause a hen to lose most of her clutch like that while my other two are doing just fine with eggs laid by the same hens??

 

[Weehopper]

Was it this hen's first attempt at actually hatching eggs? If yes, she may not have rolled them properly. I would let her try again before writing her off.